TEHRAN – Iran said on Monday it awaited the U.S. response to “solutions” discussed with the EU envoy for breaking a stalemate in talks aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal.
The European Union’s coordinator for nuclear talks with Iran, Enrique Mora, held two days of discussions with the Islamic Republic’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani in Tehran last week, leading the EU to say talks had been unblocked.
The negotiations, aimed at bringing the U.S. back into the deal, had stalled for about two months.
“Serious and result-oriented negotiations with special initiatives from Iran were held,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters.
“If the U.S. gives its response to some of the solutions that were proposed, we can be in the position that all sides return to Vienna,” where the talks are held, he added during his weekly press conference.
Iran has been engaged in negotiations with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China to revive the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
“If the U.S. announces its political decision today, which we have not yet received, we can say that an important step has been taken in the progress of the negotiations,” Khatibzadeh noted.
Among the sticking points is Tehran’s demand to remove the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from a U.S. terrorism list.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Friday said Mora’s mission to Tehran went “better than expected” and the stalled negotiations “have been reopened.”
Washington, however, has adopted a less optimistic tone. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Friday that “at this point, a deal remains far from certain.”
He added: “It is up to Iran to decide whether it wants to conclude a deal quickly.”
Khatibzadeh, however, stressed that a political decision has to be made in Washington in order to revive the agreement.
“Mr. Biden should make his mind on whether he wants to follow Trump’s legacy,” he said.
Talks on reviving the agreement began in April last year.
Khatibzadeh hailed Russia for playing a “positive and constructive” role in the Vienna talks.
The official dismissed “worn-out rhetoric” by U.S. officials, reiterating
that Iran seeks to restore its legitimate rights, so that the maximum pressure invented by the Trump administration must be dismantled.
He also lashed out at the Zionist regime for its attempts to torpedo diplomacy whenever initiatives are shown to advance diplomacy in the talks.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatibzadeh reiterated the need for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban to combat the threat that terrorist groups pose to the neighboring countries.
The spokesman said Iran follows a policy based on realities in Afghanistan and on its principles.
He said the current rulers are responsible to ensure security in Afghanistan and make sure that terrorist groups do not pose a threat to the neighbors.
“We are serious about (the fate of) all people of Afghanistan, including all ethnicities and groups, and are worried about their conditions,” Khatibzadeh noted.
Afghanistan has been in turmoil since the Taliban, who had previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, took power again on August 15 last year amid a chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from the war-torn country.